Etymology

president

pre·si·dent
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Today it means: The head of state of a republic, sometimes also the head of government as well, particularly (US politics) the head of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States of America. Full definition →

Old French president ← Latin praesidēns
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president · noun, adjective, verb1

  1. Latin · derived frompraesidēns“presiding over; president, leader”
  2. Old French · derived frompresident
  3. English todaypresident

From Old French president, from Latin praesidēns (“presiding over; president, leader”) (accusative: praesidentem). The Latin word is the substantivized present active participle of the verb praesideō (“preside over”). The verb is composed from prae (“before”) and sedeō (“sit”). The original meaning of the verb is 'to sit before' in the sense of presiding at a meeting. A secondary meaning of the verb is 'to command, to govern'. So praesidēns means 'the presiding one on a meeting' or 'governor, commander'.

President · noun, proper noun2

From president.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.